In protein biochemistry, biochemists specially study proteins as complex polymers. Protein biochemistry is the study of the chemical structure of proteins, including individual amino acids, their linkage as well as physical structure of proteins. Proteins, especially globular proteins, are three dimensional in nature. Proper function of globular proteins is tightly related to their three-dimensional structures (Structure-Function Relationship). Their complex and diverse structure offer them a high degree of functional diversity.Structure-function relationship is one of important area studied in Protein Biochemistry.The chemical reactions which involve proteins are also of interest in Protein Biochemistry. These reactions are usually mediated by enzymes.

Enzymes are molecular workers which are used for performing specific reactions in pharmaceutical, medical and food industries. They are applied for production (for example amylase for production of alcohols), elimination (for example catalase for elimination of hydrogen peroxide) and transformation (for example alcohol dehydrogenase for transformation of alcohol to aldehyde) of materials or used as food preservative (lysozyme).

Healthy eating and physical activity habits formed during childhood can persist into adulthood and prevent or delay premature onset of a number of chronic diseases. The aim of this study was patterns of physical activity and dietary habit in relation to weight status in adolescent girls. In a cross sectional study, using two stage cluster sampling 256 adolescent girls were randomly selected from 8 Semnan secondary schools. Weigh and height were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. In adolescents, anthropometric indices were defined based on the CDC 2000 cut-off points for age and gender-specific BMI. Data of energy and nutrient intake was collected with the 24-hour dietary recall and food record questionnaires. The food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate daily food consumption. Physical activity was determined using Baecke questionnaire. Data analyzed indicated that daily fat intake (p=0.003, r=+0.18), energy percent of fat (p=0.04, r=+0.01) and fast food frequency (p=0.026, r=+0.139) had significant relationship with BMI percentile. There was a significant relationship between snack frequency and weight status in high school adolescent girls (p=0.023). Data analyzed indicated that physical activity had significant relationship with weight status in adolescent girls (p= 0.0001). The findings suggest that make physical activity enjoyable and improvement food habit among adolescent girls are necessary to induct.

   Diabetes mellitus is a common metabolic disease. Its association with low level of testosterone is controversial. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum total testosterone, free testosterone index (FTI), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in Iranian men with type 2 diabetic.A case-control study was conducted on 38 non-diabetic and 36 diabetic men aged 40-60 years old with Body Mass Index (BMI) 18-40 (kg/m2). Fasting serum total testosterone, SHBG, FBS (Fasting Blood Sugar), HbA1C, and other hormone tests were measured. Logistic regression adjusted models was used to asses the association of total testosterone, free testosterone and SHBG level with type 2 diabetes.The mean age of participants was 47.7±5.7 years. Serum total testosterone, FTI, and SHBG had no difference between case and control groups. There was no significant difference in total testosterone, FTI and SHBG between the patient with and without glycemic control.Logistic regression analysis showed an inverse relationship for total testosterone in the lower tertile concentration and type 2 diabetes, but adjustment of HbA1c eliminated the correlation between total testosterone and diabetes. According to logistic regression analysis, SHBG and FTI were not significantly associated with type 2 diabetes.Our findings suggest that serum testosterone level of the type 2 diabetics may not be lower than healthy subjects in Iranian men.

CD27 is a biomarker associated with both T-cells and B-cells activation .Plasma soluble CD27 (sCD27) was identified as  a marker of disease outcome in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection .Testing of plasma sCD27 represents a good tool to monitor the change of immune activation during HIV infection.We sought to analyses role of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and also GB Virus type C (GBV-C) co-infections on HIV-related immune activation, through measuring sCD27 plasma levels.Blood samples from a total of 86 patients with HIV infection were taken. Plasmas were analyzed for HCV using serologic test and GBV-C by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). CD4+ and CD8+T-cell counts were evaluated by CD3/CD4+ and CD3/CD8+ double staining of whole blood followed by flow cytometric analysis .Then  Cross-sectional comparison of sCD27 plasma levels was carried out among patients : HIV (n=20), HIV/ GBV-C (n=14), HIV/ (HCV) (n=26) and HIV/HCV/GBV-C (n=26).Plasma level of sCD27 was higher in HIV/HCV/GBV-C patients as compared to HIV mono-infected patients (p= 0.006) and based on results there was significant differences in the plasma levels of sCD27 between HIV-infected individuals with and without HCV coinfection (P=0.017) and also correlation between sCD27 and percent of CD4+T-cells was in highest level among HIV/HCV co-infected patients group [r= -0.59 (p=0.001)]. High levels of sCD27 among HIV/HCV patients argues in favor of sCD27 plasma level determination for monitoring of clinical features among HIV/HCV coinfected patients.

Development of a stool antigen immunoassay to detect Helicobacter pylori infection requires monoclonal antibody against the specific antigen. Alkylhydroperoxide reductase (AhpC) of Helicobacter pylori has been described as a specific and unique enzyme for H. pylori and therefore, both H. pylori AhpC and Anti-AhpC could be useful in the development of serologic and stool antigen tests, for detecting  and monitoring H. pylori infection. The aims of this study were to prepare a monoclonal antibody against AhpC. Accordingly, The isolation and purification of  AhpC from H. pylori were attempted by various techniques including ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis, preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electroelution. Furthermore mice were immunized intraperitoneally with homogenized gel containing the AhpC band of protein  extract of H. pylori in sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The monoclonal antibody was produced using the hybridoma technique.One-dimensional preparative gel electrophoresis allows a single and short purification step, the high-resolution capacity of this technique leads to a high level of purity of the enzyme and consequently to a very high specificity of the antibody. The high specificity of antibody was identified by immune blotting in which the antibody reacted with the purified AhpC and whole cell protein extract from H. pylori in addition to the intact cells of H. pylori. This approach is simple, time and cost-saving for preparation of monoclonal antibody against AhpC of H. pylori.

The human papillomavirus L1 major capsid protein (HPV L1), the basis of the current vaccines, self-assembles into virus-like particles (VLPs). Herein, we describe the expression and purification of recombinant HPV16 L1 in E. coli system. The L1 protein was generated in a fused form using an inducible expression system. The recombinant GST-L1 fusion protein migrated as a 82 kDa protein in SDS-PAGE. The L1 proteins formed inclusion bodies which were purified by Zn⁺² reverse staining of sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels (SDS-PAGE) as a sensitive detection method. In western blotting, the existence of a 82 kDa band for GST-L1 protein was confirmed by anti-HPV16 L1 monoclonal antibody Camvir 1. The purified protein fraction was concentrated by ultrafiltration and dialyzed against PBS. This study has implications for the development of L1 protein purification as well as chromatographic separation used by other studies. Indeed, we could present a simple method to purify L1 protein in E. coli.

     Glutamatergic system stimulationthe nucleus accumbens shell, may affect anxiety-related behaviors, aversive learning and memory. Glutamate receptors are differentially distributed in pre- and postsynaptic sites contributing to neuronal communications.The present study aimed to examine the possible involvement of the NAc shell presynaptic NMDA receptors on NMDA induced responses, using the elevated-plus maze (EPM) task in maleWistar rats. Bilateral guide cannulae were implanted to allow microinjection of glutamatergic agonist (NMDA) or ca⁺² channel blocker (SKF96365 hydrochloride) agents. Pretest intra-NAc shell infusion of NMDA induced anxiolytic-like behaviors and impaired the EPM-associated memory upon test and retest, respectively. In addition our findings showed that, the intra-NAc shell infusion of Ca⁺² channel blocker at applied doses, does not alter the anxiety-like response and aversive memory upon test and retest, respectively. Furthermore, infusing the subthreshold dose SKF prior to the injection of effective doses of NMDA, reduced the anxiolytic-like response and improved the aversive memory impairment which had already been induced by intra-NAc shell NMDA injection. Our study showed that,inhibition of the neurotransmitter exocytosis from pre-synaptic neuron via Ca⁺² channel blockade bySKF96365 decreases affected induced by NMDA in the NAc shell region, indicating the involvement of the pre-synaptic NMDA receptors in NMDA induced responses.Therefore, NMDA's ability to increase anxiolytic-like behaviors and the aversive memory impairment may be the result of an action on pre-synaptic glutamatergic receptors which in turn decrease the glutamate effect at synaptic terminal level.

    Stray dogs are considered as an important health problem in societies because they can carry dangerous diseases such as hydatidosis, toxocariasis and coenurus cerebralis to humans and animals. Therefore, the study of helminthes infections in all parts of Iran for evaluation of infection state, and provision of the infection control programs is essential. The aim of this study, was to determine the prevalence of parasitic cestodes in stray dogs around Ilam city. In this study, 65 stray dogs were killed by shooting with the municipality officers and were dissected considering health rules. After laparotomy, internal organs are inspected, and bowels completely collected in separate containers containing 10% formaldehyde. Transferring the samples to the parasitological laboratory, the bowels were cut using forceps, and its contents passed through the sieve, and the worms were separated. Azo carmine & carminic acid staining was used for diagnosis of isolated cestodes. The number of 65 dogs, 54 dogs (83%) had at least one species of cestodes; that 32% (21 dogs) infected by Taenia ovis, 9% (6 dogs) by Echinococcus granulosus, 15.4% (10 dogs) by Taenia hydatigena, 20% (13 dogs) by Taenia multiceps, 18.5 /% (12 dogs) by Dipylidium caninum and 10.8% (7 dogs) by Mesocestoides lineatus. In this study, it was shown that helminthic rate in stray dogs is very high around Ilam. These parasites are important in terms of health and economic aspects. Therefore, it is more essential that we note to parasitic infections, to develop control programs.

     Lysozyme is considered as part of the innate immune system. It has stimulated considerable interest as a natural food preservative. Lysozyme has been shown to be effective in preserving a variety of foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, seafood and wine, for which many Japanese patents have been granted. The relatively high thermal stability of lysozyme also makes it attractive for use in pasteurized and heat-sterilized food products, possibly allowing reduced thermal processes, and therefore, minimized nutritional and sensory quality loss. In this study, we investigated effect of polyamines on the thermal inactivation of lysozyme by kinetics curves. Our results showed that polyamines can decrease the thermal inactivation of lysozyme; the effect of spermine on the thermal inactivation of lysozyme was more than that of the spermidine.

Protein aggregation is a serious problem for both biotechnology and cell biology. Diseases such as prion misfolding, Alzheimer’s, and other amyloidosis are phenomena for which protein aggregation in our living cells is of considerable relevance. Human lysozyme has been shown to form amyloid fibrils in individuals suffering from nonneuropathic systemic amyloidosis, all of which have point mutations in the lysozyme gene. In this study, we investigated effect of small additives on the thermal aggregation of lysozyme. The main finding of this work is that multiple amine groups, spermine and spermidine, play pivotal roles in preventing the thermal aggregation of lysozyme. Our results showed that effect of spermine is more than spermidine.

     This study discusses the effect of complexes of chitosan grafted polyethylenimine(Ch-PEI) with plasmid DNA on viability of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) derived from human marrow. Ch-PEI/pDNA nanoparticles were synthesized through the complex coacervation method using pIRES plasmid containing Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene. To confirm the complexation, samples were run through an agarose gel. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were studied for the cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles by MTT assay. MTT results indicated Ch-PEI does not have any significant cytotoxicity compared with PEI and Lipofectamine²⁰⁰⁰ leading to 40% cytotoxicity. According to the results it seems that grafting chitosan with PEI improves the MSCs viability.

Because of continuous changing of anatomy, function and metabolism of the human brain, age- related change is a major risk factor in most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinsons and Huntingtons disease. Therefore, knowing patterns of age-related atrophy of brain tissue can identify causes and possible role of diseases in decreasing brain function with age. The aim of this study was to determine the age, sex, and hemispheric differences in volume of the human neostriatum (striatum) nucleus in right-handed healthy humans. This study was performed on 120 normal human subjects (60 males, 60 females) 15–65 years old that was divided into young (<40 years) and old (≥40 years) groups. The sectional brain images obtained via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was analyzed and processed using the Image-J software and the caudate volume was calculated using the Cavalieri’s principle. The analyses revealed bilateral age-related changes in the caudate volume of both sexes and the caudate nucleus was significantly smaller in older than younger subjects (P<0.001). There were statistically significant volume differences between males and females (P<0.05) and there was a significant negative correlation between age and volume of the caudate nucleus. Our results provide useful baseline data on age and gender-related changes of caudate volume in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinsons and Huntingtons, which has the potential to diagnose neurodegenerative disease before the appearance of typical clinical symptoms.

      A number of 6-hydroxy-2-benzylidene-3-coumaranones were synthesized from condensation of 6-hydroxy-3-coumaranone with appropriate aldehydes and were evaluated for their antioxidant activities. The antioxidant activity was assessed using two methods, including, 1,1-biphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, and reducing power assays. Some of the benzylidene coumaranones showed antioxidant activity more than Trolox as reference antioxidant.

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Quercetin as an inhibitor of heat shock proteins and hyperthermia on the induced DNA damages and colony formation ability of DU145 tumor spheroid culture. DU145 cells were cultured as spheroids. On day11, spheroids with mean diameter 100 μm were treated with different concentration of Quercetin for 24 hours and then exposed to hyperthermia at 43^oC for 1 hour. After heat exposure, the colony forming ability and the induced DNA damages were examined using colonogenic and alkaline comet assay methods, respectively. Our results showed that DMSO diluent in combination with hyperthermia had no significant effect on the number of colonies and the level of DNA damages as compared to control (p>0.05). Furthermore, number of colonies decreased and DNA damages increased by increasing Quercetin concentration in combined treatment of DU145 cells with Quercetin and hyperthermia in spheroid cultures. Quercetin as an inhibitor of heat shock protein 70 production in cells exposed to hyperthermia can increase DNA damages and decrease colony numbers of the prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner and there is a correlation between the increase of DNA damages and decrease of colony numbers.

Growth retardation in children is a result of nutritional ignorance, inappropriate care, and lack of growth monitoring. This study was performed to assess the effect of mothers training program, based on the PRECEDE model, on the prevention of growth retardation in 6-12 months old children. This quasi experimental study was conducted on 120 mothers (60 in the experimental and 60 in the control group) with single child and exclusively on breast feeding who were cared by health centers in Shiraz, Fars province. The data were gathered through a questionnaire which included demographic characteristics, the components of the PRECEDE model (knowledge, attitude, enabling as well as reinforcing factors, and maternal function) and child weight. Educational intervention was performed during 6 sessions each of which lasted for 55 to 60 minutes. The questionnaire was completed by the experimental group before and 4 months after the training program. The results showed that the educational intervention program in the experimental group caused significant increase in the means of knowledge score (P<0.001) and attitude score (P<0.001). This study showed that enabling and reinforcing factors (and training sessions), performance score of mothers as well as weight of children among experimental group were significantly higher than control group (p=0.01). The results of this study indicated that mothers training program based on the PRECEDE model was highly effective on the prevention of growth retardation in the study population.

   Heat stress is a significant occupational health and safety for workers in petrochemical industries. Heat stress is a combination of heat load individual and environmental factors impose on workers’ bodies, which in turn, have impacts on workers’ performance, safety, and health. The present paper is carried out to determine the heat stress levels in workplace and to compare it with allowed Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) according to ISO 7243 standard. the present study was carried out in three consecutive weeks in Mehr Petrochemical Complex in South Pars Special Economic Zone in Assaluyeh, 270Km southeast of Bushehr in spring of 2011. The study was carried out on workers in different parts including workers in packaging, mechanics, welding, and store keeping sections.  Environmental parameters of dry temperature, natural wet temperature, glowing temperature, and relative humidity were measured to calculate an index for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature according to ISO7243 standard, and metabolism rate was estimated according to ISO 8996 standard. Metabolism level for workers in two groups of mechanics and welding sections according to ISO 8996 standard was 95W/m², and for workers of packaging and store keeping sections calculated as 75W/m². Based on ISO 8996, work load for all four sections was light. The means of weather parameters such as dry temperature, natural wet temperature, glowing temperature, and relative humidity were statistically significant for all four sections. It was also indicated that the highest level of WBGT were obtained for workers in mechanics (33.26±0.21), packaging (32.02±0.2), welding (31.37±0.2), and the lowest level was estimated for store keeping workers (27.4±0.22), with changes being statistically significant. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: findings of the present study indicated significant changes between different groups in measured parameters and calculated indices, which confirm results of previous body of research. Workers in three groups of mechanics, packaging, and welding are exposed to heat stress, and among these three, mechanics workers’ exposure to heat stress is higher, but WBGT index in store keeping work place is lower than allowed level. Thus, they have been experiencing favourable work atmosphere.

Establishing of total quality management in any organization including emergency medical services need to an appropriate tool to help developing, implementing and evaluating of quality programs. The objective of this study was to develop a valid and reliable tool for self assessing enabler criteria of Iran EMS centers according to European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model.The study was conducted using the Delphi method, and 43 participants as panelists were enrolled in 3 round modified Delphi technique. Initially, a rating scale was developed in response to main question of study; which items should be contained in self assessing tool of quality in Iran EMS area? This scale was judged by 5 experts primarily, and after some modification was entered in Delphi process. The comments of panelist were collected by E Mail and final scale was developed in the end of 3th rand.Pre-hospital Emergency Self assessing Rating Scale (PHESARS), Was main result of this study that developed in 190 items in 5 enabler criteria according to EFQM model including; Leadership (52), Policy & Strategy (21), staff (41), Resources& partnership (36) and Processes (40).Self assessing scale was developed by TQM and excellence perspective and because of experts' consensus in developing it, has content validity and can be used in self assessing of pre-hospital area and determining improvement opportunity and, can leads the Iran EMS centers to total quality management and organizational excellence.

Vegetables, used in preparing salads, are most important part of the diet. These materials are often irrigated by untreated urban wastewater. Wastewater, contaminated with ova of parasites, bacteria and protozoa, are used as fertilizers and it can cause a variety of infectious diseases. The purpose of this study is detection of microbial contamination of salad used in Ilam’s restaurants.

In this study, 42 samples were collected from all restaurants placed in Ilam city and transferred to the laboratory. Brilliant Green Medium, Trypton water and Coax reagent used for detection of Escherichia coli. Water broth, Selenit systein, Tetrationat, Salmonella-shigella agar and Briliant green was used for identification of salmonella. For detection of Enterococcus, KF agar medium containing a diphenyl Tetrazolium chloride was used. Sabro dextrose agar medium (SDA) was used for detection of mold and yeast and wet mount and concentration methods used for parasitology investigations. The results of this study indicate that about 66.66% of samples were infected with Enterococcus, 69% had E. coli contamination and 83.33% of samples were contaminated with yeast. Samples were negative for presence of Salmonella and mold (mold not more than 10³). Parasites contamination of samples was (4 cases) 9.5% for Giardia lamblia, (10 cases) 23.8% for Taenia eggs, 31% (13 cases) for Hymenolepis nana 16.6% (7 cases) for Entamoeba coli. The results of this study showed that salads are contaminated with infectious agent and the use of appropriate disinfectants and washing the vegetables used in salad preparation is essential for controlling infectious diseases.

     The overall goal of this review is to discuss the potential efficacy of herbal treatments. Plants are considered among the main sources of biologically active chemicals. Plant based drugs usage in our past decay became very renowned due to their fewer side effects and being less expensive than chemical ones. Recently, more abrupt tendency in this field has been increased. Furthermore, advances in molecular and cellular determinations revealed effective properties of these herbal components. Some plants extracts have shown multi-functional properties such as anti-oxidant, anti-amyloid, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory; further studies, besides,   are required for detailed chemical characterization and more extensive biological evaluation of the most active ingredients. In summary, herbals can be considered as novel therapeutic approach against wide range of diseases. This review article draws the attention to some species of plants possessing biological activities on human health.

Metabolic syndrome, a clustering of components that reflect overnutrition, sedentary lifestyles, and excess adiposity, has become a major health problem worldwide. The increase in its prevalence could be the result of the increase in obesity and insulin resistance. It is suggested that modification of lifestyle including increasing exercise and improving dietary habits is an effective approach for management of the metabolic syndrome. No single diet is recommended for patients with metabolic syndrome. This paper will review the data and make an evidence-based recommendation for the optimal dietary patterns for reducing cardiometabolic risk.